Striking Verizon Workers Destroying Internet Cables

Lots of Verizon technicians are very angry at their employer — around 45,000 of them. And it appears some of them are pissed enough to sabotage the American ISP's fibre optic network, the Boston Globe reports — they're slashing cables.

Verizon's reported 12 intentional acts of telecom destruction, from Massachusetts to Maryland. In some cases, equipment's been pilfered, while other areas have seen vital cables cut, severing the flow of precious data.

Now Verizon's got a $US50,000 bounty out for those responsible.

Labor strikes are nothing out of the ordinary — and neither is labour sabotage. Disgruntled employees have been destroying the equipment that formerly comprised their livelihood since the Industrial Revolution. The term Luddite itself springs from a zealous movement of gear-wrecking labour leaders. It's a radical tactic, and certainly a desperate one. We'll see if it's as effective today as it was two centuries ago. It gets attention, but blacking out the TV and internet service of the people whose money winds up in your pay cheque isn't usually the best means of ingratiation. [Boston Globe]

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